Category Archives: Black & White

Victoria Park, Belfast

Victoria Park, Belfast

On a warm sunny afternoon, Victoria Park was well populated by walkers, runners, picnickers, and ball game players!  There was one unoccupied piece of path…

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Fujifilm X-T2, Nikon 50mm MF lens, Focus Peaking.  F=50mm, f/5.6 @ 1/60th sec on ISO 400. Shot on Acros Black and White Film Simulation Mode.

The Lockdown Logs #63

The Lockdown Logs

Dateline: June 4th 2020

Traffic Light Photography.

When I drive I keep the camera beside me, usually with a medium range zoom lens fitted. When I stop at traffic lights I wind down the window and look around me.  If something interesting is happening, I shoot it.   So this was the scene today at the bottom of the Limestone Road.

I liked the symmetry of the men’s postures.

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Fujifilm X-T30, F=200mm, f/7.1 @ 1/160th sec on ISO400

Removing the colour made the image less fussy and distracting.

Templemore Baths, Belfast

Here’s a building that’s been part of the East Belfast community since 1893.  It was originally built to facilitate hygiene requirements by the City Corporation, for many of the houses in the terraced streets around the building had only outside toilets, and no bathrooms.  So, the council built the public baths…

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I have passed the building on many, many occasions, but rarely can it be found without cars parked along the front during the daylight hours.  (It sits just off the new ‘Glider’ bus  route along the Albertbridge Road, so I suppose that people park there and ride the Glider into the city centre.)   Today as I passed it was clear, and I just happened to have a camera or two in the car! Continue reading Templemore Baths, Belfast

Black and White Without the Noir!

Black and White Without the Noir!

I love Black and White, the images have a timeless quality about them, and the lack of colour seems to make the mind work harder to interpret the image, a provocative  gestalt.  But does it work in the studio, under studio flash lighting?  It does for adults, – but what about for kids?  And does studio monochrome always have to be so noir?

Scarlett visted the studio this evening with her mum and her little sister to make some lovely photographs and memories, and among them was this little black and white portrait.

So, does this image work for you?

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Fujifilm X-T2 F = 24mm f/8 @ 1/125th Sec on ISO 200 under studio flash, W/B = 5600K

It works for me!

Belfast Christmas Market 2019

Time for my annual visit to the Belfast Christmas Market, clustered around the veritable ‘Dome of Delight’ itself, Belfast’s historic City Hall.  This year again, it was the evening when I visited.  I took the Fujifilm X-T30, small enough to be unobtrusive and powerful enough to make eye-watering images. I had the ISO at 3200 throughout the evening. Despite the fantastic X-T30, the market was so busy it was difficult to make any decent images, but here’s a few…

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Continue reading Belfast Christmas Market 2019

St George’s Market, Belfast.

Rainy Day Photography

Saturday 9th September 2019 – the morning was wet, for heavy rain has been lashing the British Isles, causing flooding.  Thankfully Northern Ireland has been spared the worst effects, unlike parts of England, where flooding has ruined homes and even led to loss of life.  It’s too wet to go out on the streets, but I had a sort of a back-up plan.  In Belfast is an old Victorian Covered Market, ‘St George’s Market’ (built in the 1890s)  – and I thought a visit might bring one or two photo opportunities.

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I liked this image.  It was captured in RAW and converted to monochrome, then combined with the original colour image. The metal girders are converging on the sign, while the two people in monochrome are like bookends, giving the photograph a sense of completeness.  It’s interesting that the woman on the left is pointing at the sign.

Continue reading St George’s Market, Belfast.

Wee Dark Alleys…

I’m back at it again. Skulking round the wee dark alleys and passages of Belfast, waiting for an unsuspecting suspect to make a silhouette.

This was November 1st, a cold wet day in the city, and this passageway leads up to a carefully tended and maintained courtyard at the front of a restaurant and bar.

Silhouette- Church Lane, Belfast.

Fujifilm X-T30 F=18mm, f/2.8 @ 1/125th sec on ISO800. Shot using Acros Film Simulation